NBN coverage maps reveal 93 percent fibre footprint

By Liz Tay on Jul 30, 2010 2:11 PM
Filed under Telco/ISP

Accepts implementation study recommendation.


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The Federal Government has extended the National Broadband Network (NBN) fibre footprint from 90 to 93 percent of Australian premises, in accordance with KPMG-McKinsey recommendations.

Today, it unveiled network maps (see photo gallery right) outlining transit links, fibre and fixed wireless coverage areas.

Australian premises in the geographical majority that was located outside of those areas would be serviced via 12 Mbps satellite.

The Government had initially priced the NBN at $43 billion, including $28.5 billion for fibre that would deliver 100 Mbps broadband to 90 percent of premises.

However, consultants from KPMG and McKinsey and Company who conducted a $25 million NBN implementation study urged the Government to spend $2.3 billion more on fibre connections.

Although fibre costs more to deploy, it was likely to have a higher uptake -- and cost was not prohibitive, the study found, highlighting lower backhaul cost estimates than those initially anticipated.

Around 300,000 additional premises would receive optical fibre broadband under the new, extended plans, Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Communications Minister Stephen Conroy announced today.

10 comments in this discussion

"Sorry, umbria, but we're talking about the effects of some particularly brainless aspects of comms policy here, and it seems that the imposition of secret government censorship on the Internet is ..."

By anonymous

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Comments: 10

tankengine Jul 30, 2010 5:26 PM	"those areas would be serviced via 12 Mbps satellite" Really ? 12Mbps ? Try again !!
wjc Jul 30, 2010 6:34 PM	BUT - remember - all those in Queensland's North - in particular. We need to ensure overall RESILIENCE of the NBN if it is to replace all that copper - yes, including your usual phone which you need to dial 000 if needed and for related emergencies. At present, the telecommunications standard requires the delivery of voltage to the end-of-line equipment - your phone - in case of emergency and loss of power. I can only assume that Mr Quigley knows those standards and is pulling the required backup voltage lines through along with the fibre!! (Not expensive if pulled through at the same time.) Remember: Your local telephone exchange has a full backup power supply and it passes tat level of safety and resilience on to you. That is why you keep a good old fashioned phone near the "cordless" or like phone - it is major requirment in the tropics and elsewhere. OK - So Senator Conroy - just what is the policy? Is the NBN going to provide the same level of safety and resilience that we have come to expect from the PMG/Telecom/Telstra network? I assume it MUST - surely that is what you and the Prime Minister want!
hsvandrew Jul 31, 2010 9:33 AM	Now Julia, if only you would promise not to filter the internet in your next term of government (how about we arrange a random sample of Australians to get consensus on the issue as apparently that is the new way to do nothing while pretending to do something) and you might get the hundreds of thousands of votes in the IT industry back for the good work you are doing with the NBN. But until the filter is off the table we aren't voting for you! Replacing Mr Conroy would probably also win you a few hundred thousand votes as well...
EMwyres Aug 1, 2010 7:23 PM	wjc - there are two optional ONTs (Optical Network Termination) - one with and without battery backup. If you're out in the sticks, you're likely to have a generator anyway, and if not, you've got the battery backup option. I don't see this as an issue.
Ice Aug 2, 2010 9:33 AM	@hsvandrew if the only reason you are not voting for Gilliard is the filter then get your head out of the clouds because Abbott has already announced in the first week of campaigning that he will scrape the NBN in its entirety so everything that has been done and all future rollouts will not happen and he also supports an internet filter as well so I hope you can give better reasons than the filter for not voting and the same goes to all other so called IT professionals who are voting the other way because of the filter . Which is worse filter and NBN or filter and no NBN. I am waiting for the flames now.
RDEFCON1 Aug 2, 2010 11:08 AM	@Ice Your right, both major parties support the filter - which is a real cause for concern. Furthermore, it doesn't even seem to be an issue in the mainstream media - so no matter what happens in the election, it is unlikely that the filter issue will be attributed any influence. There is only one thing you can do, and that is to filter Conroy himself (only works if you vote in Victoria). For information about what to do, go to: http://filter-conroy.org/
anonymous Aug 2, 2010 1:15 PM	@RDEFCON1 - Conboy's filter does not seem to be an issue in the mainstream media, except for passing references to saving all the children, etc. This suggests that the media corporations are mostly technically ignorant (possible but unlikely) or that they are happy to see a government censorship structure imposed on the Internet. Is it possible that the close relationship they seem to enjoy with government might mean that they would like to have that censorship system applied to restrict competition with, and boost demand for, their own media offerings?
RDEFCON1 Aug 2, 2010 3:27 PM	@ anonymous Agree that the lack of concern in the media is disturbing. They should be seeing the filter as an attach on freedom of speech and thus a threat to themselves. That the major media outlets are silent make 'conspiracy theory' alarm-bells go off in my head, and I'm not usually prone to that sort of nonsense...
umbria Aug 2, 2010 4:53 PM	(Can the moderator please remove the off-topic posts about the filter? This article is about the fibre footprint.) @wjc, not having a phone that works without power has been solved in many different ways since the objection was raised. Remember that the optical fibre will be lit, so all you need is low-voltage power to the ONT, which has one RJ45 port and two VoIP ports for a normal phone plug. A laptop or even a cheap telephone with its battery charged is all you need in a blackout. Expect to see many suitable consumer solutions in the market once the fibre starts rolling. Households with special needs could see a subsidy or health department loan equipment, and may involve solar charging or a UPS, or simply keeping a spare charged battery on hand.
anonymous Aug 2, 2010 6:35 PM	Sorry, umbria, but we're talking about the effects of some particularly brainless aspects of comms policy here, and it seems that the imposition of secret government censorship on the Internet is front and centre in that discussion about current government policy. But I agree completely with your point about low-voltage supply solving the VOIP access requirement. Now that is a non-issue ;-)